Gov't to chase 'artificial sun' with $866 million investment in nuclear fusion reactor development

Economy

Published: 24 Jul. 2024, 14:30

Gov't to chase 'artificial sun' with $866 million investment in nuclear fusion reactor development

The Kstar, or the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research, fusion reactor built by the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy in Daejeon [NEWS1]

The government will pour 1.2 trillion won ($866 million) into developing nuclear fusion reactors to accelerate the advancement of the often-dubbed “artificial sun” technology.

The announcement was made by the Ministry of Science and ICT as part of its new plan to design and develop a nuclear fusion reactor distinguished from the ongoing Kstar — the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research — project and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project. The plan was approved on Monday by the National Fusion Energy Committee under the Science Ministry.

Nuclear fusion, or how the sun powers itself, theoretically generates more energy compared to fission, but with no pollution or radioactive waste.

Under the newly approved plan, the ministry intends to invest 1.2 trillion won for 10 years starting in 2026 to develop nuclear fusion reactor components through a public-private partnership and establish a private-led industrial fusion energy ecosystem.

If the technology development is successful, the government hopes to build a small-sized pilot reactor with a generation capacity of 100 megawatts in the 2030s, and begin operation in the 2040s.

The goal is to develop the technology for nuclear fusion reactors more advanced than the ongoing Kstar and ITER projects. ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject for creating nuclear fusion energy, with Korea, the United States, Japan, the European Union, China, India and Russia as members. The project initially aimed to begin full operation of a 500-megawatt reactor in 2035, but was recently delayed by four years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and issues in component supply.

Global fusion energy research, which has primarily been led by the public sector, has recently seen a shift as private startups are making strides with an aim of marketing the technology in the 2030s.

“New startups in the nuclear fusion sector, such as EnableFusion, have been emerging as of late in Korea as well,” said Oh Yeong-kook, president of the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy.

“As many large- and small-sized companies involved in the Kstar and ITER projects have accumulated experience, we plan to create an ecosystem for fusion energy together with the private sector, universities and research institutes,” said Oh.

“Although Korea has been one of the leading players with the Kstar project and its involvement in the ITER program, the competition is getting fiercer with new startups aiming to begin commercial operation in the 2030s coming up in the United States, Britain and China. Therefore, without a public-private partnership, we may fall behind in the global race,” said Park Sang-wook, the senior presidential secretary for science and technology.

BY CHOI JOON-HO, SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]